Nutritional and Epigenetics Implications in Esophageal Cancer

Abstract

The effects of diet on the epigenome and its modifications on gene expression can provide a window to understanding carcinogenesis. In this chapter, an update of the most recent studies of nutritional epigenetics and how dietary nutrients affect these target mechanisms in esophageal cancer were performed. One-carbon metabolism nutrients and how a variety of nutrients such as folate, methionine, cobalamin, riboflavin, and vitamin B6 has the potential to perturb DNA and histone methylation patterns in esophageal cancer are reviewed. Additionally, the roles of nutrients such as genistein, epigallocatechin-3-gallate, resveratrol and curcumin as DNA methyltransferase inhibitors and modulators of histone modifications are also discussed in esophageal cancer.